Orion closes largest ever fundraise, bringing total AUM over $9B

Orion Resource Partners has completed the final close of its Mine Finance Fund IV at $2.2 billion, representing its biggest fundraising to date.

Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and other leading institutional investors are putting money into Fund IV, active since 2023 and now with total assets under management of more than $9 billion, the firm said in a statement on Monday.

The fund is 61% committed across a portfolio of critical minerals projects spanning North and South America, Europe, Australasia, and Africa. Strong performance is demonstrated by early distributions to investors, Orion said.

Based in New York, Orion is one of the mining industry’s largest specialist financiers, providing mine construction loans, royalties and other structured capital as producers seek new funding sources to build critical minerals supply.

‘Defining year’

The close followed a series of successful fundraising initiatives and strategic partnerships across Orion’s multi-strategy platform. These include a $1.8 billion US-backed consortium launched in October and an earlier $1.2 billion joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, the emirate’s sovereign investment vehicle focused on infrastructure, energy and food security.

More recently, Orion announced a partnership with SNB Capital to support the development of Saudi Arabia’s mining industry and the successful close of Orion Industrial Ventures’ inaugural fund, dedicated to investing in emerging technology companies in the mining sector.

“The past year has been a defining one for Orion,” Oskar Lewnowski, founder and group chief executive officer of Orion Resource Partners, said in the release.

“As global demand for critical minerals and strategic metals has continued to accelerate, we have seen growing engagement from sovereign investors and strategic partners who recognize the strength of our platform and our long-standing capabilities across the mining and metals value chain.”